Bryan Ford’s cozy bread pudding recipe turns day-old bread into a rum-topped dessert

Many cultures have their own versions of bread pudding, created as a way to eliminate the waste of old bread. This version is from my cookbook, “Pan y Dulce.”

“Old bread” does not necessarily mean that it has gone bad or is moldy. I’m simply referring to bread that is a day or two old and has gotten dry, which makes it the perfect vehicle to soak up the sweet milk and egg mixture and create a very moist texture once it comes out of the oven. You can feel free to use dairy-free alternatives like almond, soy, oat, or coconut milk instead of the whole milk and heavy cream.

As a professional baker, I am hopelessly devoted to the practice of measuring my ingredients by weight.

While this does require a cheap digital kitchen scale, the practice will give you an instant upgrade from baking volumetrically, by which I